Love, Life, Murder
by redsox1016
Summary: CASTING CALL: If you leave your name in a review, you could be a character in this story! The BAU is getting a new member, Peyton. She is young and starting her career. She will find love, friendship, hard times and drama. In her first few months she will run into her one night stand, fall in love with a team mate, solve her first murder case, and get shot.
1. Chapter 1

"There is not a thing in the world that would make me change my mind right now." Peyton was confident as she sat in Hotchner's office. "I know this is what I'm meant to do."

"Welcome to our team then, Agent Olson." Hotchner held out his hand to shake Peyton's. "Follow me to the conference room to meet the other team members." He stood and motioned for Peyton to walk out the door in front of him.

She walked out of the door and waited for Aaron to lead the way. They went down the hallway and entered a big room with a round table. There were four people sitting around it. They all looked at her as she entered the door. She began to get nervous. She was young and she knew she would have to prove that she was an asset to their team. Hotchner pointed to an empty chair. Peyton sat in the seat.

"Team, this is Peyton Olson, the new member of our team." Aaron introduced as he sat down. "Agent Olson, this is Jason Gideon, Penelope Garcia, Jennifer Jareau, and Spencer Reid." He pointed to each member as he said their name. He turned to Gideon. "Where is Morgan?"

"He's running a few minutes…" He didn't even finish explaining before a man walked through the door.

Peyton recognized this man. She had a one night stand with him about a week ago. She started to blush; she could feel it.

Aaron looked back to Derek. "This is Peyton Olson, our new team member."

Derek smiled. "Nice to see you again."

"You two know each other?" Penelope asked, sounding a little jealous.

"We met a while ago." He laughed.

"Briefly." Peyton added, chuckling to herself.

"Good, Derek, you can be in charge of showing her around." Hotchner nodded at Morgan.

"Come with me." Derek commanded.

Peyton stood up, nervously, and walked behind Derek out of the room. They walked down the hallway into the main room of the BAU. "So, about last week…" Peyton started.

"It never happened." Derek said without looking at her. "Don't worry. This is work."

"Thank you." Peyton sighed in relief.

"This is where we all have our desks." Derek walked down the couple of stairs to where the desks were grouped. "This is Reid's desk, my desk, and this will be your desk." He motioned to an almost empty desk. The only thing on it was a blank manila folder. "I'm sure that's your 'Welcome to the BAU' folder that Jennifer Jareau, who we call JJ, gives to everyone new. Her office is over there." He pointed. "Hotchner's office is over there." He pointed in the opposite direction. "And next door to his office is Gideon's office."

"Are you currently working a case?" Peyton asked as she sat in the chair behind her desk.

"Not right now." Derek sat on the corner of his own desk. "JJ will be presenting a case at nine."

"This may sound weird, but how old is Reid?" Peyton whispered, not wanting anyone to hear.

Derek laughed. "He's twenty-four. He's has two PhD's, and I think he has a photographic memory and can he read like 20,000 words per minute, or something crazy like that. He's a genius."

"Wow." Peyton shrugged her shoulders. "So, you never mentioned you worked for the FBI."

"We didn't do much talking." Derek winked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said sarcastically.

JJ came out of the conference room and over where Peyton and Derek were talking. "We need you in the conference room. We have a case."

"We're on our way." Derek stood up.

Peyton, Derek and JJ walked back to the conference room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you like the story. It's just getting started! **

**I'm having kind of a casting call. Write a review with your name in it and you could see yourself as a character in my story! Feel free to leave some information about what you want to look like, how old you want to be, who your favorite Criminal Minds character is... And wait to see if you pop up. **

Everyone was sitting around the conference room table, except JJ. She stood in front of the computer monitor that had two pictures of women.

"This is Monica Johnson and Taylor Spencer. They were both murdered within the last four days. Monica on Tuesday and Taylor yesterday, Thursday." JJ introduced the case.

"That's a short time between kills." Derek commented.

"So we don't have much time for talking." Hotchner added.

Peyton wanted to prove she deserved to be there. She was going to work her hardest on this case. "So at this rate he's planning another kill for tomorrow."

JJ put two different pictures on the screen. It was the same women, except they were dead. "They were both found in dumpsters two blocks from each other."

"That should be a very simple geographical map for you to work up." Garcia joked to Reid.

"And they both abducted the day before they were killed." JJ added.

"He already has another woman, doesn't he?" Gideon asked.

JJ nodded and put another picture on the screen behind her. "This is Brittany Burns. She was abducted this morning."

"He's working fast." Reid started. "We need to find his stressor."

"Everyone study the case on the flight." Hotchner closed the file in front of him. "Wheels up in thirty." He stood up and walked out of the conference room.

JJ walked out behind him, Gideon followed her, and Garcia and Reid behind him.

Derek stood up and waited for Peyton to stand up.

"So, that's it?" Peyton asked. "We're going now?"

"That's it, mama." Derek smiled. "Now we're going to get on a plane and fly to Missouri. Just like that?" Peyton murmured. "That's really fast."

"The BAU works fast. We have to." Derek replied.

"I know. I just didn't expect to leave on my first day." Peyton admitted. "Not that I'm complaining, or saying I don't want to. I just didn't see it all happening so fast."

"It always happens this fast." Derek laughed and they walked out of the conference room.


	3. Chapter 3

Peyton looked out of the window on the jet. They were flying to Missouri for her first case. She felt nervous. It was her first case with the BAU, her first case as a profiler for the FBI. She looked around the plane. Hotchner was reading over case files. Gideon and Reid were playing chess. Morgan was listening to something on his headphones. JJ was talking a nap. Hotchner closed the file, walked toward Peyton and sat in the seat next to her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her.

She smiled, nervously. "Good. I didn't know it happened this fast."

"There are always cases, Olson." He held up the case file. "There are about fifty cases that come into JJ's office every day. We have to choose the cases that we can be the most help to." He put the case file next to him. "After one case is solved and one monster is caught, it's on to another monster."

"That's what I'm here to do." Peyton assured him, as well as herself.

"What can you tell me about the unsub?" Hotchner asked.

"Well, he's working quickly, there's probably a recent trigger." Peyton told him. "Something that set him off and that's what we need to figure out. Both of the murders were committed close to each other, which most likely means he lives there. He feels comfortable there."

"How do you know it's a he?" Hotchner asked.

That made Peyton nervous. "Each of the victims was stabbed over twenty times, with stab wounds to the genitals. If it were a woman it would be more about revenge and have less sexual overtone."

"Very nice." Hotchner nodded and walked away from Peyton.

She pulled a letter out of her bag and opened it up.

**_My dearest Peyton, _**

**_ You know that I love you. You are an amazing woman. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are courageous. You are smart. You will go far in this world. You will do great things for others. You will make a man very happy one day. I'm sorry that man isn't me. The past three years of my life that I've spent with you have been wonderful. We've laughed. We've cried. We've talked. I have met another woman. You are too good of a person to cheat on, so I must end it. Meeting this other woman had me thinking. If it was so easy for me to just leave you in order to have night with her, then our relationship wasn't meant to last forever. I don't want to drag on something that was going to end. Please know that me ending our relationship has nothing to do with you. We just aren't meant to be together. Please forgive me. You are about to start a new chapter of your life. _**

**_ I have one request from you. Before you start your new job with the BAU, go out and do something so reckless, stupid, and unlike you. It will make you feel better after reading this letter. It will take your mind of the stress of moving to another state. It will be a great chance for you to have a free pass at doing something crazy. _**

**_ Your favorite ex-boyfriend, _**

**_ Ryan_**

"Whatcha' got there?" Derek sat down next to her.

"Nothing." She folded the letter up.

"You can't fool me." He laughed. "I'm a profiler."

"It's a letter I received from my boyfriend of three years." She whispered.

"You have a boyfriend?" Derek was shocked. "I swear I didn't know that when we met."

Peyton didn't say anything, just handed him the letter.

After reading the letter Derek folded it back up and handed it back to Peyton. "Let me guess." He started. "You got this the night we met?"

"How did you know?" She laughed. "It was heart breaking."

"I'd imagine." H agreed. "The woman? Do you know her?"

"No." Peyton started. "I haven't talk to him since I got it. I don't know what I'd say to him."

"You don't have to face him, girl." Derek smiled. "You deserve much better than someone who would leave you at the drop of a hat."

"Thanks, Derek."

Derek returned to his seat and put his headphones back in. Peyton pulled out her laptop to add a blog entry. Her blog was the only "person" she could tell everything to.


	4. Chapter 4

__**I hope everyone is enjoying the story. :)**

_Entry #135: Nervousness and Craziness_

_Today is a crazy day. Day number 1 at work. I can't believe how fast everything moves. I sat down at a table and one hour later I'm on a flight, headed to my first case with this team. It's intimidating! I'm intimidated and I'm nervous. I have so much to learn about his case. _

_ The craziest part of my day? Remember my little one night stand last week? Yeah, he's on my team. Imagine my surprise when he walks in and my boss tells him to show me around. _

_ I haven't talked to Ryan in over a week. I don't know what to say to him. Thank you? I hate you? Why did you waste the last three years of my life? I'm so confused. _

Peyton ended her blog entry as the jet started to land. This was it. They were about to start to her first case. She put her laptop back into her bag and got ready to land. She never liked the landing part of flying. She didn't mind taking off and she didn't mind being in the air. There was something about flying at a high speed towards the ground that scared her just a bit.

They walked into the Kirkwood, Missouri police department. It was small and not too many uniforms were walking around. It kind of looked deserted. Hotchner and Gideon walked in first, the rest of the team following behind. A man walked up to them. He was short and balding. His whole top lip was covered by a very impressive mustache. "Welcome to Kirkwood. I'm David Robertson, the sheriff. Thank you for coming so quickly."

Hotchner held out a hand to shake Sheriff Robertson. "I'm Unit Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner. This is Senior SSA Jason Gideon, SSAs Jennifer Jareau, Derek Morgan, Peyton Olson, and Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Thank you all for coming." Robertson said again. "Follow me. We've set up an area for you to work. It's not the biggest."

"Any room will do." Gideon assured him. "Where are all of your officers?"

"They're all out looking for this murderer." He replied. "Where else would they be?"

"They'll have a lot better chance at finding him if they know who they're looking for." Gideon replied. They were now in the little office that they Kirkwood police had set up for them. "We will need them all here when we're ready to give the profile."

"Okay." The sheriff nodded and walked out of the room.

"Let's get started." Hotchner sat down at the table that was in the office. The rest of the team sat down as well. "Let's start with what we know."

"He has to have a record." Morgan jumped in. "There's no way he escalated this fast without some priors."

"Was there any evidence that they victims had sex before they died?" Peyton asked. "Maybe he can't have sex with these women, so he kills them."

"Reid, you and Olson head to the morgue." Hotchner commanded. "Find out what you can about what happened to these women before they died and after."

"Got it." Peyton stood up and Reid followed behind her out the door.

"JJ, can you do what you can to keep this out of the media for now?" Hotch asked.

"I'll see what I can do." She answered and left the office.

"The rest of us need to figure out if these for specific victims or easy targets." Hotch dialed a number on his phone and put it on speaker.

"This is Penelope Garcia, where all that is unknown will become known. What can I do for you?"

"Garcia, I need you to find out if there is any link between the three victims." Hotch requested. "See if they went to the same places, knew the same people, whatever you can give me."

"I will have that to you faster than you can say 'Thank you, Miss Penelope Garcia, for the smartest, most beautiful woman I know'."

"Thanks, baby girl." Derek added before Garcia hung up the phone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all the reviews. Nice to know I'm not the only one who reads it! :) I am officially writing the first chapter with one of you in it! It will be the next chapter posted. Hope you guys enjoy! **

"We're ready to give the profile." Hotchner stated. "Olson, you'll give it."

Peyton took a deep breath in. _You can do this. _She told herself. She looked out at all of this police officers staring at her. She was extremely nervous, but she knew what she was talking about. _Just tell them what you know. _She encouraged herself. She coughed to clear her throat. "We're looking for a male, mid-twenties to mid-thirties. He has a steady job, probably with an attractive female boss. He'll be the type of employee that does exactly as he is told because he wants to please his boss. He doesn't have a family, most likely never had a serious girlfriend. He might be impotent and that's why he mutilates the women's genitals. Or it could be because he can't get a woman to sleep with him. He's shy, doesn't speak his mind and doesn't take control. The only time he gets to do this is when he is murdering his victims. He will most likely have a record for attempted rape. He wants to have sex with these women, but he can't. Every time he tried and wasn't able to he escalated to higher degrees of punishment for the women. He stays close to home, which means he is really comfortable here. He probably lives with his mother or grandmother. He had killed two women and abducted another one all in less than a week. Something has happened to this guy recently that has set this guy off. Maybe his mother is sick or dying. Maybe he was severely mocked. Maybe he lost his job. We need to figure that out." She had run out of stuff to say.

Luckily, JJ took over. "We are going to set up a press conference. Someone knows this guy and we will find him."

"Thank you." Hotchner said, dismissing the group of law enforcement officials. He turned to Peyton. "Nice job."

Spencer made his way over to Peyton. "Nervous?" He asked.

"A little." Peyton admitted. "That was my first time giving a profile."

"You did well." He smiled. "Now, let's catch this guy."

Spencer, JJ, Derek and Hotchner all went into the office that they police chief had set up for us. Gideon came and stood next to Peyton.

"What do we do now?" Gideon asked, testing her.

"Now, we take another look at the geographic map. We keep going over the list of people with records and try to narrow down."

"Good." He didn't smile, he didn't say anything else. He just walked away.

"Nice talking with you." She whispered to herself, sarcastically, as she followed him into their temporary office.

As soon as they were all back into the office Derek's phone started to ring. He picked it up and put it on speaker. "Hey baby girl. What do you have for us?"

"Well, my chocolate fountain of desire, listen to this." Garcia spoke.

Peyton must have had a confused look on her face because Reid leaned over to her. "They always talk to each other like that. It's their thing." He whispered.

Peyton nodded and listened to what Garcia had to say.

"So, Jonathan Pickler, he's got a record of not one, not two, but three attempted rapes, he works for an insurance company. His boss, Samantha Rodney, is a former supermodel for Cosmo magazine. He lived with his grandmother up until nine days ago, when she died of a heart attack. She had this heart attack while she was, get this, being raped. Two boys were arrested the day of the rape, but were released with just probation because they were only fifteen."

"That's the stressor." Reid announced.

"He's feeling guilty that the one time his grandma gets raped she dies, but he's been trying to rape women for years and they all lived. He's killing these women because his grandma died." Peyton said, confidently.

Hotchner nodded his head in agreement. "Garcia we need his…" He didn't finished asking his question when Garcia cut him off.

"His home address and work address are being sent to you as we speak. Go get 'em,, tigers." She hung up.

"Reid, Olson, Morgan, you head to his house. Gideon, JJ and I will head to his work." Hotchner closed the file that was sitting in front of him and stood up.

They all walked out of the office and off to their destinations.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_Entry#136: Feelings of Regret and Joy_

_ I did it. We solved our first case. It was exhilarating to feel like I did something; like I saved someone else from coming in contact from the beast. I feel joyous and magnificent. I want to feel like this all time. But, now as I am flying home from four day away from my new apartment, without contact from any of my friends or family from home, without contact from Ryan. Ryan was the most important person in my life for three years and now I haven't talked to him in forever, it seems. How am I going to fill the void? I can't just fall in love with someone else, can I? I can't just replace him? Or can I? Can I start dating again? Is it too soon? Why am I asking myself questions that I can't answer? Maybe I need time. Maybe I don't need time. I don't know what I need. _

_ What I really need is some sleep. I haven't really slept at all this trip. I did go out last night with JJ while we were waiting for the jet to fly back to Missouri to pick us up. She's a really nice person. She's the kind of person you feel like you can trust the moment you meet them. I need someone like that in my life right now. _

_ I'm going to get some sleep on this flight. I probably won't have time for any sleep before I have to be back at the office at eight in the morning tomorrow. _

XXX

Peyton crawled into her bed. She was uneasy. It was the third night that she's been in her new apartment. She was uncomfortable and nervous. She needed something familiar. She didn't want to call Ryan; she was trying to leave that door closed. She knew she deserved better. She closed her eyes. As soon as her eyes shut there was a knock on her door. "Who could that be?" She mumbled to herself as she ripped her covers off of her. She slowly made her way to the door and looked through the peep hole. "Addison?" She smiled to herself.

Addison was Peyton's cousin, but they were more like sisters. Addison was tall, brunette and beautiful; and she knew it. Addison was a reporter for the Seattle Times and she was great at it. Peyton had just read Addison's last article. A couple months ago in Seattle there was a young police officer that was arrested for selling the drugs that were put into evidence. Addison knew there was something more to the story and she found it. The police officer was being drugged with a rare hybrid of some drug. This drug made it impossible for the police officer to control his actions. He was literally not himself. Because of this amazing discovery, Addison was the most wanted reporter in the United States. She was currently combing over job offers from many, many different newspapers and news stations.

Peyton opened the door. "Addison! What are you doing here?" She hugged her cousin. "You look amazing, as always."

"Thanks, cuz." Addison kissed Peyton's cheek. "I came to visit. I have two weeks left of my vacation, which means I have two weeks left to pick where I want to work. I need your input."

"I'd be happy to." Peyton closed her front door after Addison dragged in her suitcase. "I see you're planning to stay."

"Just for a few days." She smiled.

"That's fine." Peyton told her. "I just may not be here. I have work."

"I know, I know." Addison sat down on Peyton's couch. "The life of an FBI profiler. I'm also here because I have something I have to tell you."

"Can it please wait until tomorrow?" Peyton begged. "I have to be at the office at eight. And it's now almost two."

Addison nodded. "Sure. Goodnight, Pey."

"Night, Addy." Peyton went into her room and get back into bed. She fell asleep almost instantly. Having Addison there was very comforting.

XXX

Morning came faster than Peyton wanted it to; until she remember her favorite cousin was in the guest room. She slid her slippers onto her feet and rushed into her living room. She noticed that Addison was in her kitchen, cooking. Of course Addison was up at six in the morning making breakfast.

"Good morning!" Addison greeted, holding up a glass of orange juice that Peyton assumed was for her.

"Morning." Peyton walked over to the kitchen and took the glass. "Thank you." She smiled and took a long gulp. "So do you have any top picks for job locations?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Addison put a plate on the bar as Peyton sat at the stool in front of it. "You need a great breakfast to have a great day; eggs, bacon and a banana. The toast is in the toaster. It'll be out in a minute."

"You didn't have to do all this." Peyton grabbed a piece of bacon and took a bite. "But, it's greatly appreciated."

"You're welcome." Addison leaned over the counter and put her serious face on. "So I have it narrowed down to three jobs."

"And they are?" Peyton asked, shoving a bite of her omelet in her mouth.

"The Los Angeles Times, a news station in Texas, and The Richmond Times, just a mere hour and half from you."

"Really?" Peyton was excited about the thought of Addison being just drive away. "Did you make one of you famous pro and con lists?"

"I did. I was thinking that you could go over them with me when you get home from work tonight." Addison begged with her eyes.

"If I come home tonight." Peyton rolled her eyes. "I never know, but if I do I would love to."

"I'll take it!" Addison chirped. "Now you get ready for work."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**This is just a little mini chapter. I'll be posting more today. Just so you know: some things that happen will not line up with what happened in the show. Hope you're still enjoying. **

"Good morning, newbie." Morgan greeted Peyton as she walked into the conference room. "It takes a while to get used to the lack of sleep." He laughed.

"Could you tell by the circles under my eyes? Or was it the fact that my eyes are not quite all the way open?" Peyton sat down in the seat next to him. "So what happens now? Will we get another case?"

"Maybe." Derek answered. "It depends on what has come across JJ's desk."

Reid walked into the conference room talking to Gideon, who was walking in behind him. "…in order for it to be considered a 'big band' it has to have at least 14 different instruments."

"I didn't know that, Reid." Gideon replied as they both sat down. "How is everyone doing this morning?"

"Good." Everyone responded.

Hotch walked into the room carrying a couple of manila folders in his hands. He slapped them onto the table. "It's going to be a little slow for the next week." He sat down. "Morgan, Gideon and I will be in Massachusetts. We will be giving lectures to classes at Harvard." He handed a folder to Morgan and a folder to Gideon.

"I will be on vacation." JJ announced as she entered the room.

"Yes." Hotch confirmed. "Peyton, you are going to be taking your certification to carry a gun, if you choose."

"Of course!" Peyton almost shouted with excitement.

Hotch handed another folder to Peyton. "Reid, will you help Peyton with her certification?" Hotch asked. "You just got yours recently. It should be fresh in your mind."

"I can do that, yeah." He replied.

"Other than that, you two will be here to assist any local cases." Hotch looked around the room at everyone. "Any questions?"

No one said anything.

XXX

Spencer and Peyton had just finished their firearms practice for the day. They had about an hour to get something to eat before meeting with the Richmond, Virginia Police Department. They were sitting in the conference room eating some Chinese food and looking over the case file for the Richmond case.

"This unsub is definitely a women." Peyton flipped the page in the file and came across pictures of two children. "She's abducting these children because she can't have her own."

"I'll have Garcia check any fertility clinics within thirty miles Richmond." Spencer set down his fork and stood up. "I'll just run down to her office and tell her. I'll be right back."

"Okay." She nodded. "I'll keep looking over the file." She told Spencer as he walked out of the office.

After a few minutes Peyton finished the rest of her rice and picked up a fortune cookie. She cracked it open and ate the cookie. Once she was done with the cookie she looked at her fortune: **The next person you talk to will be the love of your life. **She sighed. _If only. _She thought. Her phone started to ring. Could it be the love of her life? She looked at her phone. "Ryan?" She whispered to herself. She paused for a moment, wondering if she should answer the call. She raised her thumb to press the answer button.

Before she could answer Spencer walked into the room. "Alright, Peyton, Garcia's on it." He sat down and picked his food back up.

Peyton hit ignore on her phone and set it on the table. She couldn't help but just stare at Reid. _Spencer Reid, the love of my life? _She wondered to herself.

"Do I have something on my face?" Reid asked, as she had not stopped staring at him since he walked in the door.

"Uh, no." She finally managed.


	8. Chapter 8

Peyton walked into her apartment and set her bag and keys on the table inside the door. She walked into the living room. Addison was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and a book.

"Welcome home." Addison greeted as she set down her book. "How was your day?"

"It was good." Peyton sat down in the chair across from Addison. "Weird, but good."

"What happened?" Addison's eyes lit up. She loved a good story.

"Three of my team member went to do lectures at Harvard and one is on vacation. So, Spencer Reid, a member of my team, and I are helping out on local cases while I get ready for the certification to carry a weapon."

"This better get interesting." Addison warned, giggling.

Peyton laughed a little. "It will. Spencer and I were having Chinese food. He left the room to talk to our technical analyst. I opened my fortune cookie, which was 'The next person I talk to will be the love of my life'. After reading that my phone rings. Guess who it is."

Addison thought for a second. "I have no idea."

"It was Ryan."

"Ryan called you?" Addison was shocked. "What did he say?"

"This is the weirdest part." Peyton took a deep breath. "Before I could answer the call, Spencer came back into the room. He was the next person I talked to."

"Is he hot?" Addison asked, winking.

"I don't know. I haven't really looked at him that like. He's super smart, and funny without knowing it." Peyton started thinking about Spencer. "You know, he is pretty cute. He's got that geek chic thing going on."

"Maybe it's meant to be." Addison smiled. "Maybe Ryan is officially a thing of that past."

"Maybe. But, enough about me." Peyton grabbed Addison's glass of wine. "Let's pick you a job."

"The money at the New York Times is amazing. The location at the LA times is amazing, but Richmond is close to you." Addison set her pro and con lists on the table. "What do you think?"

"Well, I went to Richmond today to assist on a case." Peyton started. "It's nice. And you're right. It is close to me."

"Richmond is the one I'm leaning towards the most." Addison admitted. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too." Peyton really did miss her. They had grown up together and ever since they started the separate careers they hadn't seen much of each other; just phone calls.

"Then it's decided. I'm moving to Virginia." Addison crumpled up the pro and con lists on the table. "Now let's get some dinner."

XXX

_Entry #137: Nights of the Strange and Exciting._

_ Addison is moving to Virginia! It is going to be so nice to have some family near me. Someone I can talk to. Which reminds me; I should call my mom sometime. I haven't talked to her in few weeks. I think she's still on some sort of cruise or something with daddy #4, I think. _

_ Addison and I are going out tomorrow night. There's a bar down the street. I need to let loose. Although last I time I let loose I slept with a random guy, who turned out to be not so random. It was a member of my team. Oops. _

_Speaking a member of my team: Spencer Reid. Could he really be the love of my life? I don't know anything anymore. Maybe I should just swear off men for now. I can't date a member of my team. Or can I? No, I can't. I should get some sleep. _

XXX

Peyton walked up to her desk at the BAU feeling rested and ready for the day. She sat down and looked at the new file on her desk. It was the next case her and Reid would be consulting on.

"Good morning, Peyton." Reid swooped in and set his messenger bag on his desk. "Is that our new case?"

Peyton just nodded. She could bring herself to say anything to him. She was sweating a little. Did she have a crush on Dr. Spencer Reid?

"You okay?" Reid asked her.

"Yeah." She managed to get out of her nervous mouth. _Snap out of it. _She told herself. "Let's get started on this case."

"Sure." Spencer grabbed the file of his desk and read it. It took him a couple of minutes to get all of the information in. "What do you think?"

"You need to give me a minute, genius." She giggled.

The phone on Reid's desk rang. "Reid." He answered it. After a moment he hung it up. "That was Strauss. They have an arrest on this case. We get the rest of the day off."

"What do you do on your days off?" Peyton asked Spencer, wondering what a genius does in his free time.

"I might read or go the park and play chess." He answered, honestly. "What about you?"

"I will be finishing unpacking my apartment." Peyton cringed at the thought of that. She hated unpacking. "Then tonight, my cousin and I are going out." _Would he want to join?_ She wondered. "Would you want to come?"

"I don't really go out?" Spencer admitted.

"It'll be fun." Peyton bribed. "You need some fun time."

"I think about it." Spencer grabbed his bag. "I'll call you later."

"Okay." Peyton smiled, wider on the inside.

XXX

"It's seven o'clock and he hasn't called yet." Peyton whined to Addison. "He's not going to call is he?"

"You don't know that." Addison tried to cheer her up. "Let's finish getting ready. Forget about the doctor."

"Okay." Peyton agreed. They both walked into her bathroom and started with their hair. "Thanks for helping me unpack today. It's been really nice having you around."

"This is the reason I've decided to come to Richmond." Addison picked up the hairspray and gave her hair a thick coat. "Perfect." She whispered to herself. "I think that us being close is going to be good for the both of us."

"I do, too." Peyton leaned her head on Addison's shoulder. Her phone rang. "Eeeeeek!" She looked down to her phone. "Ryan?"

"Ryan, again?" Addison asked. "Are you going to answer it?"

Peyton thought for a long moment. "No." She concluded.

"Good for you, Pey." Addison smiled.

Peyton hit the ignore button. "I'm done." Her phone rang again. "It's Spencer." She almost giggled like a little school girl. "I need to calm down. I am twenty-six years old."

"Answer the phone." Addison demanded.

"Hello?" Peyton said quietly.

"Hi, it's Spencer."

"Oh, hey Spencer. What's going on?" She asked nonchalantly.

"I've decided to take you up on that offer." Spencer replied.

"Great. We're meeting at Dougherty's Tavern." Peyton looked at the clock on her bathroom wall to pick a time. "Around eight thirty?"

"I'll see you there." Spencer hung up the phone.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Two weeks later…_**

Peyton was at home cleaning her kitchen. Addison has left to Richmond and it feeling lonely around her apartment. It was the start of her two days off. Tonight she was having a small get together at her house. She took a small break from her cleaning adventures to write a new blog entry.

_Entry #149: New Beginnings_

_ I'm almost finished with the cleaning and cooking for the dinner tonight. JJ, Spencer and Penelope are coming. Penelope is bringing her friend, Sandra. Derek is also coming tonight. I haven't really had any interaction outside of work since the… you know what I'm talking about. I hope it's not awkward. _

_ Spencer and I have been spending a lot more time together recently; inside and outside of work. He is exceptionally caring. I haven't thought about Ryan at all. (And writing about him in my blog doesn't count as thinking about him.) He has called me a few times, but I haven't answered. And he doesn't leave voicemails. So I don't know what that's all about, and frankly I don't care. I have started a new chapter of my life and I love it. Only two more hours until the party._

There was a knock on the door. Peyton wasn't expecting anyone early. She took off her apron and set on the counter before walking to the door. She looked through the peep hole. She didn't see anyone. "Weird." She turned around and started to walk away when there was another knock. She looked through the peep hole and still didn't see anyone. She opened the door. "Hello?" No one answered. She turned around to walk back into her apartment. She felt a thud on the back of her head and everything went black.

XXX

JJ, Spencer and Morgan were standing outside of her apartment, knocking on the door.

"Why isn't she answering the door?" JJ asked the boys and knocked again.

"There's a key under the mat." Spencer knelt down and pulled a little envelope from under the mat. He opened the envelope and slid a key out of it.

"How did you know that was there?" Morgan asked him, smiling.

"She said it once." He lied. "I know everything, remember?"

"Okay, pretty boy." Morgan laughed. "Just open the door.

Spencer stuck the key in and turned it. He slowly opened the door. "Peyton?" He called, but there was no answer. "Something's not right."

They all walked into the apartment, watching closely. There wasn't any evidence of anyone being in the living room. JJ walked back towards the hallway that leads to the guest bedroom and bathroom. Morgan and Reid walked toward Peyton's bedroom door.

"Clear!" They heard JJ yell from the guest room.

Morgan pulled the gun out of holster around his ankle. Reid swung the door open and Morgan busted in Peyton was on the bed, there was blood in puddle around her. Morgan stuck his gun back in his holster. He and Reid ran over to Peyton.

"JJ, get in here!" Reid yelled.

JJ flew through the door. "What happened?"

"Call a bus." Morgan instructed.

JJ did just as she was told.

Morgan checked Peyton's pulse. "She's alive."

Reid grabbed a sheet that was on the floor next to the bed and covered the gunshot wound in her abdomen.

XXX

Peyton opened her eyes. "Where am I?" She asked.

Reid was the only one in the room with her. "You're in the hospital. Who did this to you?"

"Did what to me?" Peyton was drugged up with pain medication. "I like your hair, Spencer." She reached a hand up and ran her fingers through her hair. "How many times a day to wash your hair?"

"Peyton, I need you to focus." Spencer took her hand off his head and held it in his hands. "What happened to you?"

"You're cute." She giggled.

Spencer blushed a little. "Peyton, you need to talk to me."

The nurse came in. "How is she doing?" She asked.

"Is there any way we can cut back in the medication?" Reid turned toward the nurse. "We need to find out what happened to her and she can't give us any information in this state."

"I'll talk to the doctor." The nurse left the room.

Hotch and Gideon came into the room, followed by JJ and Morgan. Reid stood up and gathered with the rest of the team by the door.

"Did you get any information from her?" Hotch asked Reid.

"No." Reid shook his head. "The nurse is asking the doctor if we can cut back on the medication."

"We don't have anywhere to start without getting something for Olson." Hotch looked around the group. "Do any of you know who could be behind this?"

"I know she has an ex-boyfriend." Derek looked to Reid. "You spend more time with her than us."

"She doesn't talk to her parents much, her mom has been married four times, she doesn't have any contact with any of them, except for the current husband, she doesn't know anything about her father, and she has a cousin that lives in Richmond. I don't know much more."

"My money is on the boyfriend." JJ stated. "They were together for three years and he broke it off out of nowhere with a letter. He said he met another woman."

"Let's have Garcia look up her phone records and see if he's been trying to contact her. Anyone have a name?" Gideon pulled out his phone to call Penelope.

"Ryan." Derek informed him.

"Garcia, it's Gideon." He stepped away from the group. "I need to check Olson's phone records. Are there any calls from Ryan something?"

"I will have some information for you as fast as I can." Garcia hung before Gideon could say anything else.

Gideon turned around and joined the group again. "She's on it."

It was just a few seconds before Morgan's phone rang. "Alright, baby girl, please tell me you have good news?" Derek said into his phone to Garcia.

"Oh, my chocolate thunder, there have been twenty-eight unanswered phone calls from a Ryan Wonder." Garcia started. "I tracked his cell phone and get this; he's in Virginia right now."


	10. Chapter 10

**I hope everyone is enjoying the story! **

"Peyton?" Hotchner lighting tapped her shoulder. "I need you to wake up." He tapped her shoulder again.

Peyton opened her eyes to Hotch standing next to her hospital bed. "Hotch?"

"I know you're in a lot of pain right now." He explained. "We have to ask you some questions."

"I don't really remember a lot of what happened." Peyton admitted. "I'm not going to be much help."

"Just tell me all you can remember, okay?"

Peyton nodded.

"Do you know who did this to you?" Hotch took out a pen and small notepad.

Peyton thought for a moment. "I will tell you exactly what I remember." She started. "I was in my kitchen when there was a knock on my door. I walked to the door and looked through my peephole. I didn't see anyone so I turned to walk away and there was another knock. I looked again and didn't see anyone. I opened the door and didn't see anyone. I turned to walk back into my apartment when I felt a thud on my head. Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and I was in my bedroom. There was a guy in a mask with a gun pointed at me. I asked him who he was and what he wanted, but he didn't answer. He just stood with the gun pointed at me for what felt like a really long time. After a long silence I asked him one more time who he was and he didn't answer. I told him that if he was going to shoot me it better hurry because I had people coming over. He looked away from me and shot the gun. I don't know what happened after that."

"He looked away when he shot you?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird." Peyton tried to sit up a little, but it hurt too badly. She gave up and continued. "Remorse, maybe, nervous, I don't know."

"How tall was he? Skin color? Anything you can give me?" Hotchner was still writing in his pad while asking.

"He was maybe six foot tall, white, I couldn't see his hair or eyes." Peyton winced in pain again. "I wish there was more I could give you. I don't know who did this or why."

"It's okay. We'll find him." Hotch confirmed. "I'll tell the doctor to give you more medication now."

"Thank you."

XXX

Morgan, Gideon, Reid and JJ were in a motel parking lot. Garcia had given this address to them. Ryan's cell phone was leading them here. They stood in the parking lot contemplating their next move.

"He could be in any room." JJ shook her head.

"We don't know who we're looking for." Reid added. "This is pointless."

Morgan looked at Reid. "Hey, boy genius, we are going to figure this out."

Gideon stared at the motel. There were many doors and this guy could be behind any of them. "We sit and we wait. We'll have Garcia track the phone until it leaves this motel. We'll find him that way."

"So we're going to just sit and wait?" Reid asked, not seeming the least bit happy about that decision.

"Do you have another idea?" Gideon shot back at him.

Reid didn't have any other ideas so he didn't say anything in return. He leaned back on his car to wait.

XXX

It had taken about six hours, but they finally had Ryan is custody. He was sitting in the interrogation room while the rest of the team watched him from the outside. Ryan didn't seem nervous, he didn't seem guilty, he didn't seem _anything._

"Morgan, I want you in there." Hotchner handed him a file. "Take this in with you."

Derek took the file and opened the door to the interrogation room. He walked in and put the file on the table in front of Ryan. Morgan didn't sit down. Instead he stood in the corner with his arms crossed. He just looked at Ryan for a few minutes, waiting to see if he'd say anything. He didn't. "What brings you Virginia?" Derek finally asked. "You're pretty far from home."

"Why am I in here?" Ryan said, calmly.

"Answer my question first." Derek stated.

"I came to visit my girlfriend." Ryan answered.

"Your girlfriend?" Derek questioned. "Who would that be?"

"What does it matter to you?"

Derek scoffed in anger. "Answers, man. I need answers."

"If you must know; her name is Peyton." Ryan slowly shifted in his seat.

Derek took a couple steps toward Ryan. "Peyton isn't your girlfriend anymore. You broke up with her, remember?"

Ryan facial expression changed drastically. He now seemed a little on edge. "How did you know that?"

"Let's go back to my first question." Derek leaned over and put his hands on the table. "What brings you to Virginia?"

"I came here to get her back. I made a huge mistake…" He stopped. "How do you about me and Peyton?"

"Peyton happens to be a member of my team. Remember the new chapter in her life?" Derek was quoting Ryan's letter to Peyton.

"You read the letter?" Ryan whispered, as if he was telling a secret. "She let you read the letter?"

"Does that make you mad?" Derek provoked.

"That was private!" Ryan yelled.

Derek stood up and laughed a little. "You got yourself a temper."

"I have every right to be angry." Ryan tried to justify himself. "She was mine for three years. I leave her for three weeks and she has a one night stand."

"How do you know about that?" Derek asked immediately regretting the question. He was hoping the rest of his team wouldn't see the change in his demeanor.

"We still have mutual friends." Ryan smirked.

XXX

**Meanwhile in the hospital…**

Peyton was back on her pain medication and feeling good. "Hey, Hotchie?" She whispered. "I just remembered something else that happened."

Hotchner grabbed his pen and pad again. "What did you remember?" He leaned close and she was whispering.

Peyton took a deep breath. "While we were in my room he asked me some weird questions."

"Like what?" Hotchner pushed. "What kind of questions?"

"He asked me how I could have feelings for someone else already. He said that Ryan would be very upset to heat that."

"Oh he did?" Hotchner knew it had to Ryan that was in her bedroom.

"Why would some random person care how Ryan feels?" Peyton wondered out loud. If she wasn't on pain drugs, she could've figured it out.

XXX

"Mutual friends?" Derek asked. "What are these mutual friends telling you?"

"They told me that she already has feelings for someone else. How could she forget about me so quickly? And when I tried to call her to ask, she didn't answer. So I knew had to ask her in person. I didn't go there to hurt her."

"So you shot her?" Derek was mad now.

"That wasn't how I wanted it to end."

Derek opened the file. All it had was a blank piece of paper. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and slammed it in front of Ryan. "How about you write your confession?"

Ryan picked up the pen and began to write. "She should've thought about my feelings. You better believe that will be in this confession."

"I don't care what it says; along as you write down that you shot her." Derek walked out of the interrogation room and slammed the door.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been three weeks since she left the hospital. "It feels good to have someone around." Peyton smiled as she was sitting on her couch. "It's been lonely around here."

"I'm sorry it's been over a week since I've visited." Spencer set a bag of takeout food on her coffee table. "We went to Boston for a case."

"You were there for eight days." Peyton complained. She had been extremely bored. For the first week of her leave each of her team members took turns visiting. For the second week it was mostly JJ and Spencer that visited. For the third week everyone was away in Boston, so it was nice to have Spencer there. She had missed him.

"It was a difficult case. A husband and wife were killing other couples." Spencer informed her. He started going over all the details of the case, but she wasn't really paying attention. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she had missed him and how much she appreciated that he was there.

"Wow." Peyton managed when he finished talking, not having any idea what he had just said. "Thanks for coming over."

"Of course." He grabbed the back off the table and handed her a styrofoam container. "Here is your chicken chimichanga."

"Thank you." She squeaked. She had been craving if for days. "I can't wait to come back to work tomorrow. I want to go into the office, get assigned a case and head out somewhere to put someone to justice. I hate being cramped in here."

"I bet." Spencer agreed. "We had a cadet assigned to our team while you were gone. Her name is Caterina. You'll meet her tomorrow. She has another week with the team."

"Is she good?" Peyton asked, curious about her temporary replacement.

"She's smart." Spencer answered. "When she's done with the academy she'll make an excellent profiler."

XXX

"Welcome back." Hotchner greeted Peyton as she walked into the conference room. "This is Caterina Andrews. She'll be on the case with us."

"Hi, Caterina. I'm Peyton Olson." She shook Caterina's hand and sat down in an empty seat. "It feel good to be back."

JJ walked into the room and wasted no time getting to the details over the new case. "We're going to Alaska." JJ placed a file in front of each of the team members. "Three men were killed in the past three months; each on the first of the month. All three men were out fishing alone when they were taken. Their bodies were dumped in lakes, but not the lake they were taken from."

"He's taking them from one lake, killing them, and then dumping them into a different lake?" Peyton asked. "The lake he's taking them to must be significant to him."

"He's also putting them in women's clothing before dumping them." JJ added.

Derek coughed to clear his throat. "He could be insulting them or using them as substitutes for a woman."

"Whatever the reason, we need to figure this out fast." Gideon looked to Hotchner.

Hotchner knew exactly what he meant. "It's the twenty-ninth."

"We have two days." Reid said aloud what everyone else was thinking.

"Wheels up in thirty." Hotch told the team before walking out of the conference room.

JJ, Gideon and Morgan followed out behind him. Peyton stayed back to read over more of the file. She couldn't help but watch Spencer and Caterina out of the corner of her eye.

Caterina was smiling at him. "I'm glad I get work on another case with you." She was flirting with Reid. "I feel like I learn a lot from you."

"It would be my honor to teach you." Reid nodded to her.

"When I head back to the academy will we still be able to keep in contact?" She gently ran her finger on the back of his hand.

"I think we will occasionally run into each other around this office." Reid assured her. "And if you need help with anything you are welcome to call the BAU. Our team members are great."

Peyton accidentally let out a laugh.

Caterina looked over to her. "Is something funny about that case file?"

"No." Peyton replied. "It's nothing. I was, uh, just thinking about something funny I saw on TV."

"What was it?" Reid asked.

"Um, it, well, you wouldn't think it was funny. It's not that funny now that I think about it. Never mind." Peyton babbled.

XXX

On the flight Peyton went over to sit next to Spencer. "Hey, Reid."

"Hey."

"So, what do you think about Caterina?" Peyton, trying not to sure her jealousy.

"Did we talk about her yesterday?" Spencer put down his book. "I think she'll make a great profiler."

"That's not exactly what I mean." Peyton laughed. "She likes you."

Reid laughed. "What?"

"She likes you." Peyton repeated. "Earlier in the conference room she was flirting with you."

"No she wasn't." He protested. "She just wants to learn."

"Okay." Peyton scoffed sarcastically. "You keep thinking that."

"I think you're wrong." Spencer picked his book back up. "I think I would know if someone liked me."

"I doubt it." She whispered. Did he know that she liked him?

XXX

Peyton and Spencer were in his hotel room. He was teaching her how to play chess. "I want to play Gideon one of these days."

"You know…" Spencer started.

"Don't worry." Peyton explained. "I don't plan on winning. I just want to play." She laughed. "It's nice to have something to get you out of the criminal mind set, you know?"

"I understand that." Spencer agreed. "Chess is a great way to get your mind off things. Whenever I have a free few minutes I like to read a book."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "If I could read 20,000 words per minute I would read all the time, but I can't so I don't really bother."

"Would you want to get some dinner with me sometime?" Spencer blurted out.

Peyton didn't expect this. She had a thing for Spencer. They had been spending a lot of time together lately. He was smart and kind. He listened to her and he had saved her life.

Peyton smiled. "You mean like a date?"

Spencer just nodded.

"Yeah." She finally answered.

Spencer made his next move on the chess board as if nothing had just happened. "Your goal is to be one step ahead of your opponent."

Peyton stared into his eyes. "Right. One step ahead." With that she leaned over and kissed him; just a small peck on his lips.

This took Spencer by surprise. "Thank you." He finally managed.

Peyton smiled. "You're welcome."

There was a knock on the door. Spencer got up from the bed and walked to the door. He looked through the peep hole and opened the door.

JJ walked through the doorway and into the room. "What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing." They answered in unison.

JJ laughed. "Okay."

"What brings you around these parts?" Peyton asked.

"Can't sleep." JJ answered.

"Us either." Spencer agreed. "I'm teaching her how to play chess. She wants to play Gideon."

"Good luck." JJ laughed.


	12. Chapter 12

_Entry #181: Love is in the Air?_

_ I may have done something really amazing or really stupid, but at least I took the chance. Right? Kissing one of my team members was stupid, but that fortune cookie said he is the love of my life. I was feeling really confident at the time, but as time goes on I am having less and less of that confidence stuff. What's going to happen now? Are we really going to go on a date? I can't stop thinking about him. But, is it too fast? I mean, I just recovered from a gunshot wound from my last boyfriend. Something just feels different about him. I have to go for it. I am going to go for it. I'm diving in, head first._

_ I'm not going to get any sleep tonight. It's already three in the morning and I have to meet with the rest of the team in just three hours. We've been in Alaska for three days now and we are not any closer to going home. Hopefully tomorrow we'll catch a break. Hopefully tomorrow isn't awkward with Spencer. I guess we'll see in just three hours. Goodnight._

XXX

Peyton dragged her tired self into the police station where she was to meet the rest of her team. She saw Gideon, JJ and Morgan standing around the board with the case information posted on it. Taking a deep breath she walked over them. "Good morning, guys."

"Morning." Gideon mumbled.

"Did you finally get to sleep last night?" JJ asked Peyton.

"I think I feel asleep around four. What about you?"

"Same." JJ replied. "I wonder where Reid is."

Reid wasn't there yet. Peyton wondered where he could be. _I bet he quit because he realized what a mistake he made last night._ She thought to herself. Just as her self-destructive thoughts were about to completely take over her mind, Reid walked through the door.

"Morning." He appeared to be happy and well rested even though Peyton knew he was up until at least two-thirty last night.

Derek pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket and put it on Speaker. "Anything new, baby girl?" He was obviously talking to Garcia.

"Yes, my hunk a, hunk a burning love." Garcia purred. "Martin Beamer was just released from jail three and half months ago. He was arrested for domestic violence. His now ex-wife, Katie Zeller has a restraining order against him. However, she was reported missing by her new boyfriend yesterday night. If you saw the picture of her, it looks just like the men he dressed up." Garcia paused for just a moment. "His address has been sent to all of your phones."

XXX

"Look, I can do this all day." Peyton sat down across the table from Martin Beamer in the interrogation room. "I'm not afraid of you." She looked right into his eyes. They had been in this interrogation for over an hour and he hadn't said a word. "You've been in our custody for twenty-two hours and you haven't asked for a lawyer. You haven't asked for anything to eat. You haven't even asked for a bathroom break. Why is that?"

Beamer just started back at Peyton.

"Is it because only women have been in here with you since we brought you in? Are you intimidated by women? Is that why you have to kill men and dress them up as women?"

He shot a look of disgust at Peyton.

"Are you getting upset now? I could bring the blonde one back in here. She's just your type. Agent Jareau is blonde, thin and beautiful. That's just how you like them, right? She probably reminds you of Katie. I saw all blonde wigs on these victims." She pointed the pictures of the victims that were in front of him. "Do you even know how to act in front a woman anymore? After Katie left you, you fell apart, didn't you?"

Derek came into the room. "What's up Peyton?"

"Hey, Derek, what are you doing in here?" Peyton smiled at him. This was a part of their tactic.

"Just wanted to be closer to you." He answered confidently.

Peyton looked to Beamer. "Wow. Isn't he charming?" She turned her attention back to Derek. "So, do you want to maybe get a drink or something after this?"

"That sounds good, girl." Derek leaned in to Peyton and pretended to whisper in her ear.

"Derek, stop." Peyton giggled. "I'm trying to interrogate this guy."

Derek reached up and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I guess he can wait." Peyton stood up and grabbed Derek's hand. "You're way more important than him."

Beamer finally spoke. "Wait."

Peyton and Derek smirked at each other and turned around.

"What do you want to know?" Beamer asked.

"I want to know where Katie Zeller's body is!" Derek shouted as he slammed his hand down on the table.

"Derek, wait." Peyton said calmly. "Be nice to him."

"Thank you." Beamer was melting like putty. "Well, Agent Olson, I'll tell you where her body is, but I want to make a deal."

"I'll see what I can do for you." Peyton smiled at him. "Tell me."

"I will write it down." Beamer leaned back in his chair.

"I'll go get you something to write on." Peyton said as she and Derek walked out of the interrogation room.

XXX

"I didn't like seeing that earlier." Spencer whispered to Peyton on the flight home. "I felt a little jealous."

"What are you talking about?" Peyton asked.

"I'm talking about what happened with you and Morgan." He cracked a smile.

"How'd you know about that?" Peyton looked around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. "Did Morgan say something to you?"

Spencer's face looked confused. "Everyone knows."

"What?" Peyton sighed. "I didn't want anyone to know about that."

"We all saw it happen."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Peyton was hoping it was something else.

"In the interrogation room." Spencer confirmed. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, yeah. I was talking about the same thing." Peyton lied. "You were saying you were jealous?"

"Yes, I was."

Peyton smiled at that. Apparently the kiss was a good idea.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I've been sick. But, here is a small chapter and I'm working on the next couple of chapters now. There will be at least one more posted today. Hope you like them!**

"Everyone go home." Hotchner shouted to the team as he walked by their desks. "You have forty-eight uninterrupted hours." As he finished his sentence he was out the door to go home to his wife.

"I have a big night planned." Derek commented. "First a nice dinner with a beautiful lady, then…" Derek winked. "Who knows?"

"That sounds fun." Peyton laughed. He was probably going to do the same that happened the night they met.

"What are you doing tonight, Olson?" Derek asked.

"I don't know." Peyton lied.

"What about you, Spence?" JJ joined the conversation.

"I have a date tonight." Reid announced.

Derek and JJ laughed.

"I'm serious." Reid looked to Peyton.

"What's so funny about that?" Peyton looked to Derek and JJ for an answer.

"It's Reid." Morgan chuckled. "He never has a date."

Peyton stood up. "I think it's great, Reid." She smiled and started to walk out of the BAU. "I'll see you guys on Monday morning."

"I'll finish up the paperwork." JJ offered. "Morgan, you go have your beautiful night with your beautiful lady. Reid, you go… on your… date." She giggled between her words.

"I will." Spencer huffed and stormed away. "And it will be great." He added as the door closed behind him.

XXX

_Entr#183: Getting ready._

_ In less than two hours I will be on my first date with Spencer. I went through about forty outfits before I finally decided on a cute mini black dress. Its super original, I know. I don't know where he's taking me. He said he wants to surprise me. Life is great right now. I'm not even thinking about Ryan's court date, which is coming up soon. I don't want to testify and I don't want the rest of my team to testify. I feel bad that I put them all through that when they hadn't known me that long. _

_ On a side note: Did I mention that I was excited to go on my date with Spencer Reid? Because I am. _

XXX

Spencer was at home. He was straightening his tie while looking at himself in the mirror. "What am I doing?" He whispered to himself. "When this goes badly, I'm going to have to leave the team." He took a deep breath and turned around to leave his bathroom. He flipped the light switch and the light went off behind him as the door shut. Spencer walked into his kitchen to find his wallet. There was a knock on his door. He opened the door to a Caterina.

"Hi, Agent Reid." She greeted, seductively. "Are you busy? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Is everything okay?" Reid asked, widening the door so she could come in. "What's going on?"

"I've been thinking about something for past month." Caterina sat down and draped her herself on his couch. "I can't get it out of my head."

"What is it?" Reid sat in the chair across from the couch.

"You." She whispered, biting her lip.

"Me?" He was shocked. "What about me?"

"Your eyes, your hair, your lips."

"Why?" Spencer's eyes widened.

"I want you to be mine." Caterina stood and took a few steps toward where Spencer was sitting.  
He noticed this and quickly stood up and moved behind the chair. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Caterina slowly made her way closer to Spencer as he made his way farther from her. "I think it's a great idea." She smiled. "Just one kiss."

"No, thank you." Reid tried to smile back at her, but he had never really been in this situation before. He thought of Morgan. How would he handle being in this situation? There was another knock on the door. "Come in!" Spencer yelled. It was like magic; thinking of Derek Morgan made him appear. If only women knew that trick.

"Sorry to interrupt." Derek apologized and turned to leave.

"No!" Spencer yelled. "You're not interrupting anything."

"Agent Andrews?" Derek looked confused. He turned to Reid. "Is this your date?"

"No, she, uh…" Reid started.

"You have a date tonight?" Caterina asked, her eyes starting to tear up.

"Yes, I do." Reid explained. "I was getting ready to leave when you showed up."

"Oh, I should go." Caterina started toward the door. "Unless you want to try that kiss?"

"No, thanks again." Reid nodded and Caterina left.

"What was that about?" Morgan asked.

"I'm not really sure." Reid told him, honestly.

"You're going to have to cancel your date." Morgan pulled out his phone. "Gideon has been abducted."


	14. Chapter 14

The team rushed in to the conference room. Hotch was already standing by the table, waiting to brief the team. There was a ominous feeling throughout the room.

"Thank you for coming in." Hotchner pointed to the files on the table. "Please sit and look over the file. We need to get moving on this."

"What happened?" Morgan asked.

"He was up at his cabin. They find no evidence of a struggle, but they found this." He showed a picture on the screen.

JJ read the note on the screen aloud. "Good luck finding me without your best profiler."

"He thinks he better than rest of us." Peyton said.

"But he's not." Hotchner sat down. "We will find him."

"We need Garcia to look up recent inmates released from prison that Gideon helped put away." Morgan pulled out his phone to call her.

"There is a team looking for any prints at his cabin." Hotchner informed them. "They are to call us as soon as they know anything.

Garcia answered the phone and Morgan put her on speaker. "Hey baby girl, I need you."

"I live to hear you say that." Garcia's voice came over the speaker. "What can I get for you, my vision?"

"I need you to look at recently released inmates from Gideon's cases. Go back six months."

"I will do that and anything else for that matter." She giggled slightly. "Um, what's going on?"

"Gideon has been abducted." Hotch told her.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't know." She felt terrible.

"It's okay, Garcia, just get that info for us." Hotch requested.

"Sure thing, boss." She hung up the phone to start her search.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Peyton asked.

"Think." Hotchner replied.

XXX

Derek's phone rang and put it on speaker again. "Hey, girl."

"I found a decent amount of scumbags for you the file through." Garcia's voice sounded stressed. "Tell me how to narrow it down more."

"Eliminate anyone who didn't have a family, no children, no wife." Hotchner told her.

Garcia typed something into her computer and some of the names disappeared. "Okay, it's down to thirty-eight. What else you got for me?"

"Take out anyone who spent less than five years in prison." Reid added. "It would have to be more than that for him to want to get revenge by taking Gideon."

Garcia worked her magic again and more names dropped off the list. "Down to thirty-three; that didn't help much."

"Check to see if any of them had a successful life; a business, money." Peyton added. She had started feeling comfortable with the team.

"I will check these dirt bags out and get back to you." Garcia hung up her phone.

"This has to be someone who feels as though Gideon took him away from his wonderful life." JJ said without looking away from the file in front of her.

"I agree with JJ." Reid looked back at the picture on the screen. "It has to be someone that had a life where he was successful, he made a lot of money; and Gideon took him away from that."

Morgan scoffed. "And he doesn't want us to have the confidence to think we can catch him."

XXX

Peyton walked back to Garcia's office to help her digitally dig through files. She stood at the doorway and knocked. Garcia turned around and waved her in. "How's it going in here?"

"I don't know." Garcia admitted. "I've gone through eight people and I have nothing so far."

"Let me see if I can narrow it down a little more for you." Peyton sat in a chair next to her. "Eliminate anyone who makes over $50,000 a year."

Garcia did that. "Okay, we're down to eleven. Are you sure that'll work?"

"Well, they would've had to have a life that they would feel like Gideon took away from them. Anyone who didn't make a lot of money wouldn't really have the same amount of anger towards him."

"Eleven peoasple, that seems like a lot less to go through." Garcia sighed. "Okay, here we go."

"Reid walked into the room. "Hey, did you guys need help in here?"

Peyton couldn't help but smile when Spencer walked in the room. "Sure."

"What do we got going on right now?" He asked, sitting next to Peyton.

"We have it narrowed down to eleven people." Garcia informed him without looking away from her computer.

"Let set a limit to their income." Reid suggested.

"We did that." Garcia explained. "$50,000 a year minimum."

"Okay, what about…" He thought for a moment. "Are there any on probation that have missed their most recent meeting with their PO?"

Garcia typed on her computer like crazy for a few minutes. "There is one."

Peyton and Reid stood up and looked over her shoulder at the computer.

"Edward Jones released two weeks ago. Gideon put him away for murdering a prostitute." Garcia read what she found.

"I remember that case." Reid stated. "I wasn't there, but I read about it. Jones had a huge law firm, a beautiful wife and three great kids. He had an affair with a prostitute. There was another unsub killing prostitutes at the time. Jones was only responsible for this one murder."

"That's got to be him." Peyton almost shouted.

"I'm sending his address to all of you." Garcia pushed some keys and Reid and Peyton's phones went off. "Go, my loves, and save Gideon."


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Erin Strauss, the director, asked Gideon. "I understand you went through a lot, but are you sure this is what you want to do?"

Gideon took a long, deep breath. "I have never been more sure."

The phone on Erin's desk rang, but she turned down the ringer. "I will get your paperwork together." Strauss looked right into Gideon's eyes. "Are you sure you want to leave the BAU?"

"I'm positive." Gideon stood up. "And I don't want to argue about it anymore." He walked out of the director's office.

Her phone rang again. "Hello?" She answered. The person on the other line talked for a few minutes, not allowing Strauss to get a word in. "Okay." She finally was able to get out. "I'm available this afternoon for a meeting." She hung up the phone after an answer from the other end of the phone.

Derek walked up to Erin's doorway and knocked. "You wanted to see me?"

"Agent Morgan, please come in." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk that Gideon was just sitting in. "I have something I need from you."

"What is it?" Morgan asked, sitting down. He and the director didn't get along very well and there wasn't a clear reason why.

"I have a _personal_ case I would like you to take a look at." She almost whispered the word 'personal'. "It needs to stay _private_."

"No offense, ma'am, but why me?" Derek almost laughed. Why would she pick him to help her with a personal case?

"You're perfect for it, Agent Morgan." Erin handed Derek a manila folder. "Inside are all the details. "I want you to take one other agent with you. It needs to be someone you trust and that can be a great help to you."

"Alright." Derek said, hesitantly. "I'll take a look at it. What is the priority compared to other cases we may get?"

"This is your top priority." Erin stressed. "Agent Hotchner already knows that you will be leaving. Let him know what agent will be going with you. Agent Andrews will be filling in until you and the agent of your choice return."

"Yes, ma'am." Derek nodded and left the office. He walked to his desk. He opened the file to look at the case. After reading about the victims he turned the page to see pictures of them. "They're black." He laughed.

"Who's black?" JJ asked, walking up to his desk.

"No one." Derek was still laughing at the fact that Strauss thought he was perfect for the case because of the color of his skin, not his amazing profiling skills. "What's going on?"

"I'm headed to my office." JJ sat down on the corner of Morgan's desk. "I'm going over new possible cases. What case is that?"

Derek thought a moment before answering. Would JJ make a great partner for this case? She would, but he wanted to talk to Garcia first. Having her technical skills would be a great asset. "It's nothing." He finally answered.

"Alright." JJ replied. "I'll see you in the conference room tomorrow morning."

Derek didn't answer, he just nodded.

XXX

Peyton and Spencer were finally alone in the conference room. They hadn't had a chance to talk in over a week. They finally were able to talk about their missed date.

"So…" Peyton started.

"So…" Spencer repeated. "I'm sorry we missed our date. I was excited about it."

"So was I." Peyton agreed. "As soon as things get back to normal around here we should try it again."

"I second that." Spencer smiled.

Peyton loved that smile. In this job she didn't get to see it that often. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Hotchner entering the room.

"I have some news." Hotchner began. JJ, Morgan and Garcia entered the room behind him. They all sat down. The whole team was staring at Hotch. "Gideon will be leaving the team."

Everyone was shocked.

"What?"

"He's leaving?"

"When?" Where the general questions coming from everyone's mouths.

"He is retiring. His paperwork is going through now. He will not be working on any other cases with us."

"Is someone replacing him?" Reid asked.

"Yes." Hotch answered. "His replacement will be starting next week. Morgan and Garcia will be away working on a case assigned by Strauss. That leaves the four of us." He was talking to Reid, JJ, and Peyton. "Reid and Olson, you two will be driving to New York to give a lecture at NYU."

"A lecture on what?" Peyton asked.

"On profiling and what each member of our team does." Hotchner answered. "You'll be there for three days and you'll leave as soon as you are ready to leave." He turned to JJ. "You and I will be going through all the case files in your office. I want to try to help you clear up and organize what you have going on in your office."

"Thank you." JJ gave a sigh of relief.

"Everyone knows what's going on?" Hotch asked to clarify.

There were nods around the room.

XXX

"This is a pretty good first date, don't you think?" Peyton looked at Spencer as they were driving to New York.

"This isn't a date." Spencer corrected.

"Think about it." Peyton started. "We are driving off to three days alone."

"Alone with two hundred NYU students." Spencer added, ruining the moment again.

"Reid, just work with what we're getting." Peyton laughed. "We can't lecture for three days straight." She pulled out her laptop to write a blog entry that she would post as soon as they got to the hotel.

"What are doing?" Reid asked.

"I have a blog that I write in." Peyton answered. "It helps me release my feelings."

_Entry #187: White Horses and Sunsets_

_ Spencer and I are on our way to New York to do a lecture. It's three days that we get to spend alone. Who knows what will happen. I normally would be afraid to give a lecture in front of a large group of people who are going to be staring at me like I'm crazy, but all I can think about is spending the next few days with Spencer. _

_ Gideon is leaving the BAU. I never even got a chance to play chess with him. It's weird how you can know someone for a small amount of time, but they can have huge impact on your life. These people knew me for less than month and they still dropped everything to help me when I was shot. They all literally saved my life. _

_ Only two more weeks until the court date for Ryan. It will be so weird to see him again. The last time I saw his face he was telling me how much he loved me. I wonder if things would've been different had I known it was him at my apartment that day. I will never know. _


	16. Chapter 16

It was cold in Maine; not just cold, but raining. Derek and Garcia hopped out of their cab up ran up to the hotel door both trying to take cover under the same umbrella. They reached the hotel entrance and Derek opened the door. They hurried in and set their luggage inside to door. Looking around there wasn't much in the hotel; it was small and old. Derek folded the umbrella back up and grabbed his bag and Garcia's bag as they walked toward the front desk. There was woman behind the desk. She was reading over something that was on the desk in front of her.

"Excuse us." Garcia's voice peeped to the woman.

The woman looked up and she seemed surprised to see people in her lobby. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes." Derek answered. "My name is Derek Morgan and this Penelope Garcia. We have reservations."

"Let me check." The woman opened a book that was on her desk and flipped some pages. She stopped on one of the pages and ran her finger along whatever was written. "I don't see anything here under either of those names."

"Is it under Erin Strauss?" Garcia suggested.

The woman took another look at the book. "Nothing by that name either."

"There should be a reservation for us." Derek was getting slightly annoyed. It was cold and rainy and he just wanted to settle into a nice room and read over the case.

"I do have one room available." The woman suggested. "If you'd like it."

"We'll take it." Garcia answered for the both of them.

The woman wrote down something in the book and then walked to the other side of the desk and grabbed a set of keys. She walked back over to Derek and Penelope. "Here are your keys. Your room number is 11. If you need anything, my name is Ms. Holboy. You can call me Gabby."

"Thank you, Gabby." Derek smiled, knowing soon he would be in a cozy bed.

"I'll show you to your room." Gabby came around from the desk and led them down the hall. Passing a couple of doors they stopped by the door with the number '11' on it. "This is your room. Let me know if you need anything at all."

"Thanks again." Garcia nodded, took the key and opened the door. She flipped on the light while Derek lugged in their bags. "This is… nice." She lied.

"It'll do, mama." Derek set the bags down and slammed himself down on the bed.

"So, we get to sleep in the same bed?" Garcia smiled.

"I am about to make all your dreams come true." Derek joked.

Garcia laughed. "Oh no, sugar, I am going to make all of your dreams come true." She sat down on the bed.

XXX

Spencer and Peyton stood at the side of a classroom full of students. Peyton's nerves were kicking in. She leaned over to Spencer. "There has to be like 200 people in here."

He looked out at the crowd for a second. "There are 237 students." He corrected her.

"Thanks." She smiled sarcastically.

"Hello, students." A woman's voice was talking into the microphone at the podium in the front of the room. "Everyone please sit down." She waited for a moment as the students all calmed down and were paying attention. "I'm Eden O'Day, the New York University Psychology program director. Thank you all for coming. Today we have to agents for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Please welcome them."

Peyton and Spencer walked over to the podium. "Thank you, Mrs. O'Day." Spencer greeted. "Hello, there." He turned to the students. "Thank you for coming today. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid and this is Agent Peyton Olson. We both work for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"We are excited to be here and share what we do with you." Peyton added. "Let's start with what profiling is."

Spencer took over. "Profiling is studying behaviors to understand the personal or group of people. We use profiler to find murderers and rapists."

XXX

"Hi, I'm looking for Penelope Garcia." A young woman was standing in the doorway of Hotchner's office.

"I'm sorry. She's away on a case. Can I help you?" Hotchner smiled and stood up from his desk.

"Oh, no. My name is Sandra. I'm just a friend." Sandra turned to leave his office.

"Sandra, wait." Hotchner almost ran over to catch her in the hallway. "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure." Sandra said, confused.

Hotchner didn't say anything for a moment. "Never mind. I'll let Garcia know you stopped by."

"Okay, thanks." Sandra laughed a little and walked down the hallway.

JJ past Sandra on the way to Hotch's office. "Who was that?" JJ asked as she finally entered.

"It was a friend of Garcia's." Hotch informed her.

"She's cute, huh?" JJ winked.

Hotchner tried to act like he didn't notice. "What? Oh, I guess."

JJ laughed. "I found this old profile for a case that was worked on about five years ago."

"Let's create a folder of old profiles and we can have Garcia make it paperless when she returns." Hotch took the file and put it into a box with other files.

XXX

"We currently have five members on our team." Spencer talked into the microphone as Peyton wrote on the white board. "SSA Aaron Hotchner." He announced.

Peyton wrote 'Hotch' on the board.

Spencer continued. "SSA Derek Morgan."

Peyton wrote 'Morgan on the board.

"Olson and myself."

Peyton wrote 'Reid' and 'Olson'.

"SSA Jennifer Jareau."

Peyton wrote 'JJ' on the board.

"And Penelope Garcia."

Peyton wrote 'Garcia' at the bottom of the list and then walked back to the podium. "Aaron Hotchner is our unit chief. While we are working on a case, we take orders from him, we go through him for everything we do, and he makes the calls."

"Agents Morgan, Olson and myself are all profilers. We work with our team to profile the unsubs." Reid added.

"Agent Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as we call her, is a profiler as well as our media liaison." Peyton explained. "She is in charge of connecting with family members, the police stations that we will be assisting, as well as handling media and press issues."

"That last member of our team is Penelope Garcia." Reid took a deep breath. They were almost done, just a quick Q&A session and they would be done. "She is our technical analyst. She can find anyone or anything you need."

XXX

"I say we get some sleep and wake up fresh and ready to work tomorrow." Garcia said to Morgan with her eyes closed. She was tired.

"Alright, baby girl." He smiled at her. "I'll hop onto the floor."

Before he could move, Garcia put her hand on his arm. "Don't be ridiculous. We can sleep in the same bed."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked. "Because I have no problem sleeping on the floor."

"I know you don't mind." Garcia patted the space on the bed next to her. "Unless you think you can't control yourself around me."

"If anyone can't control themselves, it'd be you, girl." He laughed and laid down next to Garcia. "I'm glad you're here with me." He said, getting serious.

"Me, too, Morgan." Garcia smiled back at him. "You're the best friend a girl could ask for."

"Can I tell you something?" Morgan asked, knowing that he could trust Garcia with anything. "It's something you cannot repeat to another soul."

"Of course." She replied quickly.

"I think I met the girl of my dreams." Derek said very quietly.

"What are you whispering?" Garcia asked, just as quiet.

"I don't know." Derek laughed. "I met her a couple of months ago and I can't get her out of my mind."

"Wow, Derek Morgan, are you in love?" Garcia giggled.

"I think I might be."


	17. Chapter 17

**I know this is a small chapter and I haven't updated in a while. I've been SUPER SUPER busy at work. I finally have a couple days off starting Tuesday so I will be writing more!**

"Good morning, sunshine." Derek looked into Garcia's eyes. "How'd you sleep?"

Garcia still hadn't opened her eyes, but she was waking up. "Ugh." She groaned.

Derek stood up and started walk toward the bathroom. Garcia popped her eyes open to sneak a peek at his bare chest. She imagined just running her hand down his abdomen. She quickly snapped out of her fantasy when her phone rang. "Hello?" She answered.

"Hey, girl." Sandra's voice came out of the phone.

"Hi." Garcia managed.

"I stopped by your work and I saw the cutest thing." Sandra told her.

"Something cute at the FBI?" Garcia wondered.

"There was a cute guy." Sandra started. "I walked into his office asking for you."

Garcia tried to think of who it could be. Usually when her friends talk about a cute guy that she works with its Derek, but it couldn't be him this time.

"His office door said 'Unit Chief', but I don't remember the name." Sandra wanted to get a name.

Garcia immediately knew who she was talking about. "You're talking about Hotch."

"Is he single or what?" Sandra wondered.

"He's married." Garcia busted her dream.

"That's never stopped me before." Sandra laughed. "Call me when you get back into town." She hung up the phone before Garcia could answer.

"Who was that?" Derek asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Sandra, my friend." She answered.

"I remember." Derek sat down on the bed. "Let's get going, mama. We have a lot of work to do."

"Let's have a little chat about what happened last night?" Garcia raised her eyebrows. "Are you going to tell me who this girl is or what?"

"Not yet." Derek shook his head. "I haven't even told her how I feel."

"You need to do that." Garcia almost shouted at him. "You know she's going to feel the same way. You're the guy who gets all the girls."

"I sure hope you're right."

XXX

"That was a really nice dinner." Peyton smiled at Spencer as they walked into their hotel. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I had a wonderful time." He replied. They were both acting a little nervous. "Not a bad first date."

"I agree." Peyton grabbed his hand as they were walking. It caught Spencer a little by surprise, but he held her hand tight. "What do you say we go back to my room and watch a movie?"

"I think that sounds nice." Spencer reached his free hand to push the call button for the elevator. A few silent seconds went by before the elevator doors opened. They stepped in and the door closed behind them. Spencer turned to face Peyton. "I'm going to kiss you now, okay?"

Peyton nodded and met his lips. It was sweet and romantic.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. A man walked in wearing a black jacket with a black beanie. He stepped into the middle of Peyton and Spencer. The man's hands were in his jacket pockets. Something seemed off about him. Only a second went by after the elevator doors closed and the man pulled a knife out of his pocket. He grabbed Peyton and held the knife to her neck. Both Peyton and Spencer tried to remain calm. "Give me all of your money!" The man shouted.

Spencer held up his hands. "I will give you whatever you want, just let her go."

"Put your money on the floor!" The man was still shouting at Spencer as he reached out and pushed the stop button on the elevator. The elevator jolted to a stop. "I said put the money on the floor!"


End file.
